Skip to content
Mixroutes
Belém
Capital and largest city of Pará, Brazil

Belém

Belém, often called Belém of Pará, is the capital and largest city of the state of Pará in the North of Brazil.

Plan a trip to Belém→From São Luís

It is the gateway to the Amazon River with a busy port, airport, and bus/coach station. Belém lies approximately 100 km upriver from the Atlantic Ocean, on the Pará River, which is part of the greater Amazon River system, separated from the larger part of the Amazon delta by Ilha de Marajó. With an estimated population of 1,398,531 people — or 2,491,052, considering its metropolitan area — it is the 12th most populous city in Brazil, as well as the 16th by economic relevance. It is the second largest in the North Region, second only to Manaus, in the state of Amazonas.

Get in

Getting to Belém

Huge bus terminal a few kilometers east of the center. Many local buses pass here. It is possible to travel by air-conditioned coach to Belém from most major places in Brazil. However, due to its relative isolation, travel times can be quite lengthy (for example, 27 hours from Fortaleza) - especially from the south.

  1. 01
    Val de Cans International Airport
See

Worth seeing

Belém is a lively and friendly city but it can look quite unappealing at first sight. There are a lot of modern high rises, but between them particularly in Cidade Velha and Campinas there are a vast number of well preserved colonial buildings, from the rubber boom and earlier. Many of the grander ones now house official bodies and there has been a drive to preserve them.

Do

Things to do

Many of the city's highlights can be taken in with a walk along the rivers edge, starting with the docks and continuing to the old fort. Numerous old churches along the way are worth a look, and the bustling market life is not to be missed. Círio de Nazaré (on the second Sunday of October): one of the largest Catholic parades in the world.

Eat

Where to eat

Belém has a range of regional specialties. See Pará for the full menu. Regional ice creams: made with fruits like Açaí, Cupuaçú, Taperebá, Bacurí, Graviola, etc. Best ice cream maker is Sorveteria Cairú, several branches, including at Docas (Station of the docks). Tacacá: a delicious soup made with shrimp, tucupi (a broth made with wild cassava) and jambu (Acmella oleracea).

  1. 01
    Sesc - Restaurante do Comerciário

    R.

  2. 02
    Lanche do Sírio

    Tv.

  3. 03
    Restaurante Popular

    R.

How locals move

Getting around Belém the local way

  • Get aroundMost buses run until about 23:00, but minibuses go virtually around the clock on major roads.

From Wikivoyage: Belém, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us. Last edited 2026-09.

Text adapted from Wikipedia and Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph: Rodrigo.Argenton (CC BY-SA 4.0), Wikimedia Commons.